The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Calking \Calk"ing\, n.
The act or process of making seems tight, as in ships, or of
furnishing with calks, as a shoe, or copying, as a drawing.
[1913 Webster]
Calking iron, a tool like a chisel, used in calking ships,
tightening seams in ironwork, etc.
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Their left hand does the calking iron guide.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Calk \Calk\ (k[add]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Calked; p. pr. &
vb. n. Calking.] [Either corrupted fr. F. calfater (cf. Pg.
calafetar, Sp. calafetear), fr. Ar. qalafa to fill up
crevices with the fibers of palm tree or moss; or fr. OE.
cauken to tred, through the French fr. L. calcare, fr. calx
heel. Cf. Calk to copy, Inculcate.]
1. To drive tarred oakum into the seams between the planks of
(a ship, boat, etc.), to prevent leaking. The calking is
completed by smearing the seams with melted pitch.
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2. To make an indentation in the edge of a metal plate, as
along a seam in a steam boiler or an iron ship, to force
the edge of the upper plate hard against the lower and so
fill the crevice.
[1913 Webster]